The presentation deals with Benjamin's work and experiences with artists and cultures from around the world. Benjamin is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Art at Southeast. The program will be presented at 3 p.m. in Room 300 of the Art Building on the Southeast campus. Admission is free and open to the public.

The program was originally scheduled to be presented on Nov. 14. Since, however, Benjamin will be participating in the opening of a group exhibit that day that will display her art in New York City, her presentation here was moved to Nov. 7.

Benjamin currently is employed in the School of Art and Design and the University Honors Program at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. She will teach her course, titled "Contemporary Asian-American Artists and Their Influences: Art Awareness with a Multicultural Emphasis," during the Spring 2001 semester at Southeast. Her course focuses on the role of Asian art in multiculturalism.

"Spicy Girl," Benjamin's traveling art exhibit, demonstrates her varied background and experiences with many different cultures. Her work combines the motifs of Hindu culture, western religion, pop culture and domesticity.

"[Benjamin's work] reveals a voice that is both refreshingly new and original, one that challenges tradition and convention without turning on either. Benjamin's autobiographical narratives are, above all else, honest and sincere. She seems challenged and perplexed by her many worlds and is not afraid to admit that," said art critic Jeff Daniel.

For more information contact Ron Clayton, interim chair for the Department of Art at (573) 651-2527.

The late Richard Wilson, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, will be honored in the Southeast Missouri State University Homecoming Parade on Saturday, Oct. 21. The American Legion honor guard will lead the parade followed by a car with Wilson's family.

At age 19, Wilson was an army medic who aided a wounded American soldier in Korea. His unit was withdrawing in the face of Communist forces and he stopped to help the soldier. He was giving medical aid when he was shot point blank. He was unarmed and wearing the Red Cross emblem.

After the parade, the American Legion will have a memorial service at the Freedom Corner at Broadway and West End Boulevard.

"It is important we remember him," said Melvin Amelunke, commander of Louis K. Juden Post 63. "He was killed on this same day, Oct. 21, 50 years ago."

On Aug. 2, 1951, Wilson's widow was presented with the Medal of Honor by General Omar Bradley in recognition of her husband's "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty."

Participating in the program will be Wilson's mother and brother Ron Wilson, formerly of the U.S. Marine Corps. Melvin Amelunke, commander of the Louis K. Juden Post 63, and Caryn Michel, president of the Post 63 Auxiliary, will open the ceremony, which also will honor the 19 other young men from this area who died in Korea. Wilson's boyhood friend, John "Doc" Yallaly, will talk about Wilson. Dr. Dean Monahan, associate professor of English at Southeast, will describe the events leading to Wilson's death.

Wilson's Medal of Honor will be on display at the service, as will a photograph of him and a copy of a painting of him helping a wounded soldier. Ron McCubbins, director of emergency services for the American Red Cross, will lead the honor guard with Burt Lehman, John Powers and Chet Powers.

The Environmental Science program at Southeast Missouri State University will sponsor a forum on Proposition A on Wednesday, Oct. 25 from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in Rhodes Hall Room 121.

Proposition A would place restrictions on billboards along Missouri's highways. A representative of Save Our Scenery, the group responsible for having the issue placed on the ballot, will be speaking in favor of the proposition. A representative from Drury Southwest Signs will speak in opposition. Time will be allowed for questions from the audience.

The 20th Annual Children/Young Adults' Literature Festival will bring two nationally recognized Missouri authors and an award-winning novelist from Connecticut to the campus of Southeast Missouri State University Oct. 19-20.

This year's festival will feature authors Jan Greenberg of St. Louis whose writing for young adults and teens includes award-winning titles, and David Harrison of Springfield, Mo., the author of almost 50 poetry books enjoyed by all ages. Patricia Hermes, author of My Girl and My Girl 2 and whose thought-provoking yet humorous award winning novels have a special flair and sensitivity that touches all ages, is traveling to the festival from Connecticut.

Youths in grades four to eight who attend the festival will be able to hear the authors speak and buy and get autographed copies of their books. The festival runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. both days in the University Center.

Greenberg is the author of Chuck Close, Up Close, Just the Two of Us, No Dragons to Slay, Pig Out Blues and Bye Bye Miss American Pie. Harrison is the author of The Boy With a Drum, Somebody Catch My Homework, The Book of Giants Stories, Little Turtle's Big

Adventure, When Cows Come Home, The Purchase of Small Secrets and Wild Country. Hermes is the author of Kevin Corbett Eats Flies, Zeus and Roxanne, Calling Me Home, Boys are Even Worse Than I Thought, Thirteen Things Not to Tell a Parent, I'll Pulverize You and Everything Stinks.

The festival is being sponsored by the Southeast Missouri State University College of Education; the Missouri State Teachers Association Southeast District; Southeast Missouri Department of Learning Resources; Southeast Missouri Council International Reading Association; Arts Council of Southeast Missouri; and Midwest Agri-Chemico, Inc., Russ and Kim Mothershead.

The cost is $3 for adults and $1.50 for children.

To register for the festival, call Vickie Holyfield at (573) 335-3356.

KRCU Southeast Public Radio kept its promise to "quit" on-air fund raising when it "hit" the goal of $27,500 on Friday, Oct. 13 at approximately 11:35 a.m.

The final on-air pledge call was made about that time on behalf of Heartland Laboratory, Inc., in Chaffee, by Dr. Bill Blank. Total pledges at that moment stood at $27,540, ending the on-air fund raising.

"This fall's membership campaign was extremely successful in a number of ways," said Greg Petrowich, KRCU's general manager. "Not only did we meet and exceed the campaign goal, thanks to the New Member Challenge, but also 84 new contributors joined the ranks of Southeast Public Radio members."

More than 30 current KRCU members made gifts to the New Member Challenge Fund, matching every new membership pledge of $30 or more with another $30. Petrowich said that, counting pre-drive renewals sparked by letters to current members, 318 individual contributions were made to the Southeast Missouri State-based non-profit National Public Radio station.

Petrowich said that with KRCU's planned expansion of coverage area by 270 percent, set for early to mid-2001, the new members provide a "base from which to expand membership even further in the entire region."

Food and refreshments for volunteers were contributed by A Touch of Grace, the Cookie Corner, My Daddy's Cheesecake, Wille's Bakery, Churchill's Coffee and Central States Coca-Cola Bottling. KRCU Community Advisory Board members also contributed snacks for volunteers.

The Southeast Missouri State University Jazz Bands Concert scheduled for Oct. 20 on campus has been cancelled due to unforeseen scheduling problems.

The concert was planned for 7:30 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

A performance has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 31 at the University Center for the first Jazz@Noon of the fall semester. Jazz@Noon will begin at noon and end around 1:30 p.m. Admission is free.

The program will feature the Jazz Lab Band performing "All of Me" as recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra, "Milestones" as recorded by Miles Davis, "Moten Swing" as recorded by the Count Basie Orchestra on "Breakfast Dance and Barbecue" and "Zihuatenejo" as recorded by Maynard Ferguson.

The Studio Jazz Ensemble will perform "Blues At Drury" as recorded by the Jim Widner Big Band on "Yesterdays and Today," "Time for a Change" as recorded by the Stan Kenton Orchestra on "Kenton '76," and "Milton's Blues" as recorded by the Jim Widner Big Band on "Yesterdays and Today." The Studio Jazz Ensemble also will perform "Always and Forever" as recorded by Bob Curnow's L.A. Big Band on "The Music of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays," "Pathetique," "Pegasus" as recorded by the Stan Kenton Orchestra, "Back to Basieques" as recorded by the Matt Catingub High Tech Big Band, and "Fly Me To The Moon."

Both the Jazz Lab Band and the Studio Jazz Ensemble are conducted by Barry Bernhardt.

For more information on upcoming University Jazz Bands events, contact the University Bands Office at (573) 651-2334 or (573) 651-2335.

Southeast Missouri State University's Theatre Department will continue its 2000-2001 season in November with Neil Simon's comedy, "The Good Doctor," a series of loosely-threaded together sketches derived from stories by Anton Chekov.

Despite their separation by space and time-modern America versus turn-of-the-century Russia-both Simon and Chekov have a gift for rousing avalanches of laughter at the pitifully sad predicaments of their characters.

Within "The Good Doctor" are scenes of slapstick and low-comedy such as the efforts of an awkward apprentice dentist to extract a grotesquely suffering man's tooth, and a bank officer having his bandaged foot continually banged on by a shrill, nagging woman customer.

For the first time in a Neil Simon play, however, there are poignant scenes as well. In one, for instance, the loneliness and isolation of the elderly is dramatized as a lady in her sunset years sits next to a similarly aged gentleman on a park bench and in a song wonders whether he will ask her to tea. In another scene, a timorous governess is bullied by her haughty employer into accepting so many petty, unfair deductions from her salary that the tearful girl can hardly hope for a fraction of it.

Acting as host and narrator, Roman Smith works to tie these sentimental and charming scenes together. He is called "The Writer," which refers to the writer whose tales they are. The cast also included Anna-Marie Martin of Ironton, Mo., Tim Nickolai of Jackson, Mo., Julie Stoverink of Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Adam Rutledge of Cypress, Texas. Dr. Don Schulte, professor of Speech Communication and Theatre, is directing this unique collaboration between a new Simon and an old Chekov.

Performances of "The Good Doctor" will be held on Nov. 10-11 and Nov. 15-18, all at 8 p.m. in the Forrest H. Rose Theatre. Interpretation for the hearing impaired will be provided on Nov. 16. For ticket information, please call the Forrest H. Rose Theatre Box Office at (573) 651-2265. Box office hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Southeast Missouri natives Earl and Marjorie Holland, now residents of Ft. Myers, Fla., have been named the 2000 "Friends of the University" by the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

The award will be presented Oct. 21 by Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University, at the annual Copper Dome Breakfast in the Student Recreation Center. The award is presented annually during Homecoming weekend. The "Friend of the University" award, which recognizes those who support and who are closely associated with the mission, purposes, plans and programs of the University, is the highest honor bestowed by the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

The Hollands made a six-figure gift in August 1998 to the Southeast Missouri University Foundation to endow the Earl and Marjorie Holland Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded annually to two students. The first award was made in fall 1998 and is given to graduates of Caruthersville or Hayti high schools.

In addition, Mr. Holland was a 1997 recipient of the University's Alumni Merit Award, which is given to outstanding alumni who have brought distinction to themselves and to the University.

"Earl and Marjorie have been significant leaders in providing private funding to support a number of endeavors here at Southeast," Dobbins said. "We are grateful for their tremendous contributions to this University. Because of them and the scholarship they have endowed, the lives of several young people in Southeast Missouri have already been touched. The Hollands also have made a second six-figure gift for a proposed upgrade to Southeast's alumni facilities. We are extremely fortunate to have supporters with the level of commitment shown by Earl and Marjorie. We deeply appreciate their continued dedication to Southeast Missouri State."

Mr. Holland is the vice chairman and chief operating officer of Health Management Associates (HMA), a New York Stock Exchange listed company, that owns and operates 37 hospitals in 12 states. The company's corporate offices are in nearby Naples, Fla.

Mr. Holland was raised in Caruthersville, Mo., and graduated from Caruthersville High School in 1963. He then attended Southeast Missouri State University, where he received a bachelor of science in business administration degree in 1968.

Mrs. Holland grew up and attended schools in Hayti, Mo., and graduated from high school in 1967. She later enrolled at Lambuth College in Jackson, Tenn.

In 1971, Mr. Holland was introduced to the health care field when he became associate administrator/controller of Pemiscot County Memorial Hospital in Hayti. Mrs. Holland was a part-time laboratory assistant there, getting ready to attend nursing school.

Earl and Marjorie were married in 1972 in Hayti. Mr. Holland's healthcare career took them to Atlanta, Ga., Virginia Beach, Va., Overland Park, Kan., and then to Ft. Myers, Fla., where they have been since 1981.

The Hollands have three daughters: Jana Holland Kuhnert of DuQuoin, Ill.; Heather

Mrs. Holland is the daughter of Marjorie Bryant and Dr. W.O. Bryant of Hayti, Mo. Mr.

Holland is the son of Helen and the late J.M. Holland of Caruthersville, Mo.

In addition to his position with HMA, Mr. Holland serves on the Board of FirstBanc Corp., a bank holding company based in Naples, Fla.; on the Board of Governors of the Federation of American Health Systems in Washington, D.C.; and on the Board of Directors of Cornerstone Management Partners, Inc., a holding company for Cornerstone National Insurance Co., based in Columbia, Mo.

Mrs. Holland works part time in Mallie Montgomery Boutique in Ft. Myers, a ladies store owned by their daughter, Heather. Mrs. Holland also does charity work for the Guardian Ad Litem, helping abused children.

The Bach Festival 2000 will continue with a performance by the Bach Festival Chamber Orchestra on Nov. 19 in Old St. Vincent's Church.

This concert will include concertos by Bach and Vivaldi, as well as a cantata by Bach. The concert will include three "double" concertos, which are performed by a pair of soloists with orchestral accompaniment. Featured soloists include Dr. Sara Edgerton and Kirk Miller, cellists; Dr. Gary and Mary Miller, harpsichordists; Dr. Ronald François and Liesl Schoenberger, violinists; and singers Lori Shaffer, Leslie Jones and Dr. Christopher Goeke. The orchestra will be a festival chamber orchestra brought together specifically for this event.

The concert will open with Antonio Vivaldi's "Two Cello Concerto in G Minor." Vivaldi, who was a contemporary of Bach's, was the most influential and original Italian composer of his generation. An ordained priest, Vivaldi went on to become a violin teacher and player of great repute, and a successful opera composer. His musical innovations include frequent use of syncopations to lend rhythmic drive, and startling harmonies and chromatic shifts. One of his best known works today, "The Seasons," shows his adventurous use of special effects to create pictures and scenes. The "Two Cello Concerto in G Minor" shows the hallmarks of Vivaldi's style with its rhythmic energy, melodic inventiveness, and effective string writing.

Two double concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach also will be presented on this concert. The "Concerto for Two Harpsichords in C Major" was written in the 1730s, probably for performance at the Leipzig Collegium Musicum, which Bach directed. The well-known "Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins" was an earlier work, dating from 1717-1723, when Bach was the music director for Prince Cöthen.

The concert will conclude with a performance in German of Cantata No. 184, "Erwünschtes Freudenlict, (Desired Ray of Light)" one of the many sacred cantatas that Bach composed while he was the cantor of St. Thomas' Church in Leipzig. It was first performed on May 30, 1724, during the Easter season, and would have been performed as part of the church service for that day. It calls for three vocal soloists, two flutes, strings, and harpsichord, and includes vocal arias, recitatives, a duet, and several chorales.

Soloists in the cantata include Department of Music vocal faculty Lori Sfaffer, Leslie Jones, and Goeke. For the concertos by Bach and Vivaldi, Department of Music faculty Edgerton on cello, Miller on harpsichord and François on violin will be joined by several outstanding concert artists from this area. Featured guest artists include Miller, cello, an alumnus of Cape Central High School and currently an undergraduate cello performance major at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music.

Also featured will be Liesl Schoenberger, violin, a student at Notre Dame High School. Both Miller and Schoenberger have won numerous competitions and other accolades for artistry on their instruments. On harpsichord, the featured guest artist will be Mary Miller, organist of Centenary United Methodist Church.

The concert will start at 7 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door and will be $5 or $3 for students and senior citizens. Admission is free with a valid University I.D. For more information, please contact the Department of Music at (573) 651-2141.

Dr. Carolyn Cornelison, an expert on alcohol and substance abuse issues, will present a program to students at Southeast Missouri State University on Nov. 1 titled "Courage to Care."

There will be two opportunities to observe her presentation, the first one during Common Hour and the second that night at 7 p.m., both in Academic Auditorium. This event is sponsored by River Eagle Distributing Co., Common Hour, and the Panhellenic and Interfraternity councils.

Cornelison's presentation focuses on college drinking, responsibility, substance abuse and helping those with alcohol and drug-related problems. She takes an approach to reach college students by using her knowledge and personal experience as a Greek member and an athlete throughout her college career.

Throughout Cornelison's career, she has traveled to over 150 college campuses and has been a part of Greek education, athletic departments, and campus health programs. She holds her a doctoral degree from Florida State University, where she worked as director of the Campus Alcohol and Drug Information Center for four years.

She then became director of special projects for the BACCHUS & GAMMA Peer Education Network.

For more information call Kristen Heine at (573) 651-2280 or Amy Pridemore at (573) 651-3354.

Sheryl Crow, a Kennett, Mo., native turned songwriter and celebrity vocalist, will perform a Benefit Concert on Saturday, Dec. 2 at the Show Me Center.

All proceeds from the concert will be divided equally to establish endowed scholarships for students enrolled in the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Southeast Missouri State University and at the Kennett Area Higher Education Center. The concert is being sponsored by Southeast Missouri State. Media partners for the event are KFVS12, the Southeast Missourian and Zimmer Radio Group.

Doyle Privett, a member of the Board of Regents from Kennett, Mo., announced the fund-raising event today during a special called meeting of the Board.

"It is an enormous honor for me to announce that Sheryl Crow has agreed to help Southeast Missouri State University and the Kennett Area Higher Education Center in raising money to support student scholarships," Privett said. "I have known Sheryl and her family formany years, and I am privileged to be associated with them. Sheryl is a highly talented performer who has not forgotten her beginnings here in Southeast Missouri. We look forward to her performing in concert here."

Dr. Kenneth W. Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University, added, "We could not be any more pleased to have Sheryl Crow perform on our campus here in December. Sheryl's generosity and talent are testimony to her strong hometown roots in Kennett, and her understanding of the need to help other young people in this region pursue their dreams. I would like to extend our thanks to Sheryl for agreeing to perform a benefit concert here. Our students, both here and in Kennett, are the true beneficiaries of her sharing her talents."

Concert tickets are $30 for lower level and floor seats and $25 for upper level seats. Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 28. To order tickets or for ticket information, call the Show Me Center Box Office at (573) 651-5000 or go to Show Me Center.

There also will be a limited number of sponsor tickets, which entitle ticket holders to preferred seating and a private gala. Sponsorship is available with a $250 contribution, $200 of which is tax deductible. Sponsor ticket holders will be seated in the first several rows on the floor or in Section 123 of the Show Me Center. They also will be entitled to a private champagne-dessert sponsors' gala with Sheryl following the concert, where they will have autograph and photo opportunities with the entertainer. Sponsor ticket holders also will receive reserved parking at Robert A. Dempster Hall with free transportation to and from the Show Me Center. The concert is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Crow previously has performed two benefit concerts in Kennett. In September 1999, Crow performed a benefit concert at the American Legion Hall, with more than $25,000 in proceeds going to the Kennett Education Foundation. Those dollars provided scholarships for students attending the Kennett Area Higher Education Center, which opened in

June in a newly renovated facility. In 1997, she performed a concert at the high school football stadium, with those proceeds also benefiting the Kennett Education Foundation and for scholarships for two other local civic organizations.

A seven-time Grammy winner, Crow gained mass popularity as a solo artist almost a year after the release of her 1993 debut album, "Tuesday Night Music Club," which rose up the charts after Crow's appearance at Woodstock in 1994.

Crow grew up in Kennett, exposed to music all her life. Her parents are amateur musicians who often played in big bands in Memphis, Tenn. She started singing in rock groups at 16. After receiving a degree in classical piano from the University of Missouri, Crow taught music at a St. Louis elementary school. Then, in 1986, the aspiring singer and songwriter moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the music business. Her first big break was singing backup on Michael Jackson's 1987-1988 "Bad Tour." She also was a backup singer for Don Henley, George Harrison, Joe Cocker, Stevie Wonder and Rod Stewart.

Her first album, "Tuesday Night Music Club," featured Crow's big hit, "All I Wanna Do." This became one of the major singles of 1994, reaching number two in the United States and number four in the United Kingdom.

A 1996 follow-up album was equally as successful as the first. Crow spent much of 1997 and 1998 on the road, playing select dates on the Rolling Stones' Bridges to Babylon tour and performing with the 1998 Lilith Fair. She released her third album, "The Globe Sessions," in the fall of 1998. The album was awarded a Grammy for Best Rock Album.